//------------------------------// // Authorization Denied // Story: Revenge of the Nightmares // by Commander_Pensword //------------------------------// Authorization Denied The Creature blinked as he found himself not in pain from the snake bite. But why was he in some kind of wood cabin? There was an old fashioned TV standing on four metal legs with a bunny ear antenna on the top of it. He could hear noises coming from the set and he slowly inched to it. As he did so, he had to blink in surprise as he saw images. The images he remembered were of old newsreels of World War Two. It started with him seeing the marching of Nazis. The screen then moved to show the attacks of Russian Troops from both sides, he then saw concentration camp footage taken by liberating US Troops. Those images he could remember seeing for the first time in a History Class while in College. He blinked in horror as he stepped back as his ears pick up the sound of chuckling coming from a chair he had not seen before. The TV was now showing colored footage of marching troops and weapons rolling through Moscow streets and Chinese troops and tanks. He began to hear the voice from the chair, dark, cold, and seeming to love the show of military might, of strength and the images of dictators in control, what unnerved him even more was how the voice sounded feminine. “Oh you humans, your mind is so rich, so much richer for mayhem and destruction than any pony I have seen before, not even a rage filled alicorn could come up with.” As if by cue the screen stopped as air raid sirens sounded and the creature realizing what that sound was dove under a wooden table, not caring if it had always been there or not, he just wanted protection. His actions caused the voice from the chair to laugh, no more of a cackle of glee at seeing the terror that the creature showed. The chuckling continued as the chair moved on its own to view the cowering human creature. All that was seen in the chair was a swirling mass of black that had eyes and a mouth. “Even you are scared of your own kind.” The TV moved as well as if controlled by some unseen force as the human saw the screen portray a colored video of an above ground test, followed by pictures and images of the after effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The human stared wide eyed at the creature of dark shadows and fog. It was slowly gaining shape as if becoming a corrupted version of a human, yet it was smoking as if a living shadow. He shivered but then something snapped, a reminder, he looked down and saw the ground had a tattered flag with a square blue field in the upper left corner with a circle of stars and alternating red and white stripes creating the rectangular shape of the flag. He looked up and glared at the monster. He slowly picked up the flag, only to have it shimmer white as it spread over his body. The creature’s laughing stopped as the human crawled out and stood up from under the table. He was different now, as a huge part of his fear was gone and he was actually daring to glare at it. The Nightmare was curious now, what did it plan on doing, was this how they made deals? Also why did his clothing change? He was wearing a tri corner hat, with a rose typed symbol made out of a white fabric. Over a vest and a shirt, and covering the top of blue britches was a long blue wool coat. It had white edging with brass buttons on the right side. At his sides were what looked to be two white human saddlebags hanging by the white stripes of material crossing his chest. Was this a uniform, she wondered to herself as she had never seen such a strange outfit before. The human only smiled a little as with a wave of his hand the small TV grew to be a flat screen, a show of the tech he was use to seeing. The Nightmare could only watch as this human in an outdated uniform interacted with technology that never existed in the historical era of the human’s current time period. The screen showed a map of what she felt was his home land. Yet a lot of it seemed unexplored and only the coastal area of land had any type of lines to indicate regions. “You have shown me what my kind can do when they have darkness and cold hearts... let me show you that we are not just evil, but good as well.” He moved his hand. As he did so, the screen changed to images, paintings and scenes from movies he had seen. “I come from the United States of America, a nation that was as you might put it, born of blood and battle.” He heard the creature’s pleased chuckle. He turned around and narrowed his eyes. “It was also born from the desire to be free of tyranny and oppression.” Moving his arm, the map appeared again as it spread further. “Yes we made mistakes, we pushed others out of their lands, but those events were products of their time, events that were made based on thinking of that time, just as I am a product of my own, and those that shall come after me shall not have the lens of living in the moment to study my time as I have studied my nation's history, I do not make excuses for my ancestors, but nor shall I pay their debt that has been paid many times before.” He smiled. “We were born in the year seventeen seventy six. Two hundred years later, because of allowing such freedoms that would boggle the people of royalty, we became strong enough to help the world.” With those words the screen went back to World War Two videos, this time showing first the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then moving on with other battles. He smiled as he saw images of might, but the Shadow he saw was recoiling, she, or it was feeling that these scenes had a different memory, a different feeling attached to them. “We went into that war to defeat evil, to win against an oppressor that would have brought the world to a new dark age of sorts.” He looked back as if seeing the eager question. However as he spoke, the pictures changed to that of disaster relief pictures, from hurricanes, to more modern pictures of the United States helping in far off places. There were also scenes of modern warfare. “How much land did we take for our role?” He saw the glint of greed as she nodded her head. “Enough to bury our dead and no more.” The man looked at the creature. “Americans, and humans, when you cut away the politics, the trappings and feelings of everything, the feelings of, well, the vices, we all just have this one wish, to be left alone in peace, but threaten that, hit us, and we will hit back.” His voice showed conviction of what he believed in. He was getting a little scared the longer he talked to this creature, this nightmare. The more he talked to her, the more defined and the more she seemed they were sharing. “You want me, you want to take me over and use me like a weapon?” He stepped forward and his uniform jumped two hundred years forward into the uniform he had been wearing when teleported to this strange place. He raised his rifle. which had changed from a musket to that of his day and age.“You are not welcomed here, I will fight you with all my power I hold, you shall not use me to plunge worlds into darkness. YOU SHALL LEAVE!” His voice shook the building and he saw the chair actually fly backwards and through a wall. He looked at the room as it transformed, it was then he realized or was it the creature that told him, he was not sure but he knew his location now in his mind’s landscape, he also had an inkling as to where the enemy was in his mind. He was in his own mind, and the room was changing to fit his need. It still kept the old cabin feel but it was turning into a forward command post. Already copies of his conviction were being formed there, grey shapes beginning to move around. He then saw a map of his mind. He would fight to the bitter end. He was not going to let this monster take him over, he was sure of that. Something from his few moments of being awake seemed to have left something on his mind, as if he had to fight for more than his own world, but why? He shook his head, he still would do his all. He looked to the ceiling, hoping for some extra help. “Battle stations.” he whispered to really himself, already he could hear something like distant gunfire and shells. He wished for a moment he had not watched those old war movies, but the moment was gone and he was once again focused on his defenses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna looked about her. She had entered the mind of the creature, and to her surprise, it looked like she was in the thickest part of the Everfree Forest. She then saw a small dirt path that was well maintained, even if this was the Everfree Forest. She saw signs that there was a settlement up ahead and wishing to figure out more she began to head towards it. This was confusing her as there had not been any settlements in the Everfree since, she shook her head shaking her astral mane to clear her mind. She was in the creature’s mind, being attacked by the nightmare in his mind, she trailed off as she realized where she might be, she began to trot down the road quickly, hoping against hope that there was still time to save the creature from the monster or could the monster was already cooperating as the land was, she never finished her train of thought as she saw the sign to the town. “Welcome to Sunny Town.” The sign was happy and cheerful, but the feelings inside of Luna were anything but. An icy hoof seemed to have clutched her heart and the rest of her body was suddenly pumping ice water. She looked upwards and promptly took to the sky, the quickness of her movement was akin to a small explosion of sound, magic, and feathers. She looked down at the town, horror on her face, this was, this was the town that housed those that create the Nightmare Cult. Yet she could feel fears of something else, as if the town carried emotional weight besides what her own memory said about it. She tore her eyes back to the horizon and almost stumbled in the air as she saw the landscape. She had to focus on something other than that town, the town her sister, she had learned, had to destroy due to what they did not even fifty years after her banishment. To her shock, the landscape she tried to look at was not settling to her mind. The landscape was torn, it looked like two worlds had been merged together, where the Everfree Forest spread out, it just ended in a jagged line as another landscape showed, it looked like pristine wheat fields with houses in the distance and beyond them a mountain range she had never seen in her life, yet from the creatures mind, she felt a strange feeling. One word seemed to be emanating around her, Home. She saw with wonder as five metal contraptions few through the sky leaving white trails of smoke as they dove at the land. She quickly realized as she got higher that their was a middle ground, a place of mud, dirt, and battle. She could just sense the feel of battle, yet she could not smell or really hear the full sounds, leaving it muted. She didn’t pause as she saw black shadows of pegasi take off from the forest and from the town that had suddenly turned dark, dreary and falling down. She gulped and promptly sped up, heading towards the transition, as she did so she saw that the monsters trailed off as more metal contraptions that defied her knowledge of flying sped past to engage the monsters that took to the air. “Attention unknown, you are entering restricted airspace,” a voice commanded in the air. “This is your only warning, either land and surrender or turn around, you have five seconds to comply or we will shot you down.” Luna could only smirk as she found the original mind, the one that the Nightmare was trying to take control of. She sighed and looked left and right to see two contraptions, their canopies darkened to her gaze to most likely protect the psyche of the one fighting the Nightmare. She, however, could feel eyes watching her. She pointed down a few times and then began her descent at a safe but still fast clip. This seemed to please whoever were flying the flying metal contraptions, but they still kept with her till she was close enough to the ground to be in range of others that were surrounding her. She was landing well into the alien creature's mind, as she could from here see only wheat fields, with the forest a far distance away. Just as she thought, she was far removed from the fighting, she was going to be integrated, or so the mind thought she would be, that was most likely until she proposed to help it. No creature should ever be forced into what she endured those thousand years ago. She calmly allowed herself to be marched toward the enemy base without a word or giving any troubles. She knew that if the mind attacked her, while no harm would befall her, she would be forced out of the mind and blocked from entering it again. The fight was going, but with how detailed the enemy’s land was. The fighting mind was losing. She could not let that happen. She would not let another fall to what she had to endure. Luna had to duck as she was led into the cabin. Almost right away her eyes drifted to a Private. His features, while looking the same as the other creatures around, just seemed... more vibrant than the others. She, however, turned to face the commanding officer. She still knew when she saw the Command Structure, even if it was an alien leading it. She spoke. Her voice calm and collected. "Commander." The Commander looked up, his features the same as those of the creature that had been lying on the couch right before she came to this creature's mind. "Who are you? We detected a breach from beyond our mind and soon you show up on our radar, are you responsible for this breach?" Luna only nodded her head. "Yes, but I rather not speak to a figment, I would rather speak to the real mind, directly." Her gaze rolling across the room, showing that she knew just who she was talking to. The Commander actually froze and seemed to just stand there but it was enough for her to tell she was talking to a figment. "Really well done, impressive mental powers. I take it you are a dreamer?" The Private who had been standing in the corner as if listening to a superior officer’s orders sheepishly stepped forward as the Commander went back to battling, yet to Luna the noise vanished to a background buzz. "Yes, I am a dreamer, I take it.." he stopped but nodded his head. "How can I trust you? That you are not a trick by the Nightmare?" Luna only smiled and looked at the wall and a map, "Because if I was the Nightmare, I wouldn't be talking to you, I would have attacked you right away." She also seemed to have a twinkle in her eye. “Also, I see you know a bit more then you let on, you appear rather sharp to have lasted this long against the Nightmare.” The mind she was talking to only nodded. "Yes, yes, I see that is indeed a Nightmare's SOP, still... why help me?" His voice cracked, showing real concern and real worry. He also had a hint of fear in his voice. Luna continued to smirk, yet while others would say it was one that unsettled most Ponies, she found the human to be enjoying her smirk. "Because I know how to drive the Nightmare from your mind, it will require your utmost cooperation with me, do you trust me?" Her voice showing concern for being trusted. She had also switched the train of thought at the last minute, still a little worried about telling all the truth to this human all at once, she was realizing she was seeing reports on the table that was giving her these insights, this creature, this human, was giving her hints into who he was, and since it was all in the mind, it was more of concepts instead of real spoken language. The Mind only paused to think about the answer, it seemed like an eternity to both parties as if he was weighing all options before him, finally he took a breath and answered the question. "Yes, I trust you, I trust you to even take the reigns if needed." Luna actually smiled, a real happy smile at the progress that was happening, but she knew it might be born of desperation, the map that seemed to be blurred out was showing the battle progression and she realized, the mind was losing the fight, it was making the nightmare fight for every inch, but it still was going to win. She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t like it very much. "I was actually going to ask that of you, but since you agreed, please be warned this might tingle or hurt, I, I never have had this done, but it should help." The human only nodded his head and with those words Luna leaned forward and placed her horn on his forehead. He blinked as a warmth spread through his body, it felt good and he felt happy, he could feel pressure as if something was pushing him to the back and he willingly stepped backwards, but as he did so it felt like something was happening, he was in a different plane now and he saw Luna’s figure with a strange aura around her body, he suddenly saw the night blue color begin to his eyes bleed towards him, as he saw another color of the red of his nation's flag begin to bleed towards Luna, and his eyes widened, as he realized knowledge was flowing into his mind. He also realized knowledge was being copied and sent over to Luna. He gulped but realized that he couldn’t stop it, and this worried him greatly. He didn’t know just want knowledge was going towards her, but what was going to him was many emotions and memories he couldn’t fully process them, from feeling trapped to seeing disasters created by the Nightmares, he also began to realize he was sharing what the Nightmare had told him, and in exchange he was learning more about the Nightmares from one that had been under their power. He smiled as slowly their combined knowledge began to push back the encroaching tide of darkness. Meanwhile on the side of Luna, she was gathering her own information. After all the Human was unable to truly keep her out, and she had to make sure he was no threat to her sister and her’s kingdom. She was slowly gathering the information for digesting later. She was pulling memories of his nation, his country, how people usually acted, and memories of his life to just see what he was, and what threat he could be without the nightmare. She could tell almost from the start that the red was not a bad thing, but a color of his homeland’s flag, the red of sacrifice she gathered from his mind. She would have to look into this at a later point in time. Still, now was not the time to get distracted, she had to focus to make sure that their minds succeeded in their fight. For a moment, the two minds were combined, and at that moment there was a blast of immense energy and the Nightmare that both combined minds were able to sense was pushed back further and further and then suddenly it seemed to solidify for a moment but then the wall fell but found nothing behind the wall of darkness. There was a cry of anger that sounded all around the mind, and then the two minds separated. Yet in that moment, memories swapped and while one human relived the moments of life alone on the moon for a thousand years and having to fight an Alicorn who was also his sister, and feeling the pains of being taken over by the Nightmare a thousand years ago. Princess Luna was going through her own wild ride, from seeing just what the Nightmare said to him before she entered, to the history of his world, but the one thing that shook her to the core almost and finally led to her breaking the mind connection at the soonest possible moment was the images of what she learned from the memories were a TV show. She stared at the unmoving form of the human mind as it slowly began to realize that he was not an Alicorn, nor was he trapped but in his own mind. While these were happening Princess Luna was trying to process fully just what she was seeing, a human, that had a loose grasp of their world, a loss understanding of the most current few years. She made sure that the human mind would recover before leaving the mind. She had much to think about. --------------------------------------------------- Back in the real waking world of Fluttershy’s cottage, the group of huddled ponies that represented the Elements of Harmony jolted and froze as they saw the darkness gathered into a glob over the forehead of the creature, and promptly shot off, breaking the main window of the cottage in its bid to escape. Moments later Princess Luna opened her eyes and quickly stood up, only to be taken aback when all six ponies swarmed her with questions and worry. Princess Luna brushed them off with both words and opening her wings a little. They backed away as she began to step towards the doorway. “I need to go gather the candy that the fillies and colts left at the Nightmare’s statue.” She looked at the two guards standing in front of the cottage. “No one is to enter or leave the cottage until I get back.” She took to the sky as the night of Nightmare Night still moved forward. “Understood, your highness.” came the words of her guard, she nodded her head, opened her wings and took to the sky, she had to clear her mind and, plan a course of action to talk to this human alone to find out more about this, odd development. She also decided to take a page out of her sister's book, and use some sugar to release the sudden increase of stress. The six ponies all stood around and looked at the clock, the clock read twelve ten; it was ten minutes past midnight and all of them were on edge, it didn’t help that Fluttershy saw the creature stir, and had to be gently coaxed away by the guards as she raced to try and make sure that nothing was wrong. Everypony was relieved to see the last of the dark aura bleed away from the body. A few of the others just stared in amazement as Fluttershy actually stared down the guards as the creature in its sleep, turned and coughed, the sound of something liquid in the cough unnerved them, but it still seemed that the creature was not waking up. This concerned Fluttershy who was once again back to tending the being to the best of her abilities, cooing and speaking like a mother to a small baby. It was moving about and seemed to be doing its best to wake up. Twilight moved back a little shocked, while Applejack glared at Pinkie Pie who had bounced closer to the creature, and almost getting in the way of Fluttershy. Applejack had to use a tactic she usually reserved for Rainbow Dash, pulled her back by her tail. Rainbow Dash had taken to the air and was looking like she was going to pummel the creature at even the slightest sign of hostilities. Rarity was sniffing in disdain, “Honestly,” her voice breaking the silence. “how can such a creature wear such horrendous clothing? I mean really.” She did pause, “Though, in its own rights, this, creature could be simply amazing. Look at the fabric amount they wear, I wonder if I could...” “Now,” Applejack interjected, “Don’t go counting your eggs before they hatch there. What if this thing is dangerous, sugarcube? Besides, Fluttershy looks like she is needing something, why don’t you be a dear and calm Angel down?” She looked towards the stairs and the Rabbit agitated not from fright, but from attacking the creature in Fluttershy's and his couch. Rarity sniffed a little but nodded her head. “Very well, I shall go see if I can calm the poor dear down.” She turned around and trotted away and up the stairs, leaving some of the more, rambunctious ponies behind to take care of the creature. Pinkie had by this time slipped away from AJ, and was now hopping in one place looking down so that when the creature would open its eyes, it would see her smiling happy face, after all, everypony likes a smile, why shouldn’t this strange creature? Also amazingly enough, she was staying out of Fluttershy’s way. Princess Luna smiled as the Children around the statue were laughing and giggling from her scary impression, however she feared it was a little more realistic than she had liked, being so close to a Nightmare again had allowed her to, in a way, better create her corrupted form, the fillies and colts however liked it, so no harm done. She did like the candy she gathered and knew a bit would be going to her guards as a bonus for wearing their costume armor. Still there was that creature, that human that was in the back of her mind, and just what it knew, and now, what she knew, he would have a lot to talk about when it came time to sit down and talk, if the human wanted to talk, she almost thought could talk. She took to the sky as her moon slowly sailed on its natural order and course. She quickly and silently returned to the cottage, she stashed the candy in the royal carriage and moved to the inside of the cabin. The inside inhabitants were all sleeping, even the human and so she slowly moved to the window to think, many thoughts raced through her mind, many things that she would have to wait for the human to wake to be able to answer them, she quickly realized that the time was slipping away and she was a few seconds late for starting the process of lowering the moon, she looked to the sky and found the moon through the window and closed her eyes as the moon lowered from her magic. As the sky began to slowly lighten and grow colder before the dawn, she lapsed into personal musings. Behind her, the human began to stir.